Pollo Tropical was once a massive success in its
home state of Florida. But plans to expand to other states failed,
and now it's struggling to survive. What happened, exactly? We've got the details.
If you know any Spanish at all, then you probably already know that "pollo"
is the Spanish word for "chicken." So, "Pollo Tropical" literally means "tropical chicken."
That name makes sense when you find out what the restaurant specializes in:
citrus-marinated chicken. While most other chicken places prominently feature fried
chicken with the grilled variety just offered as an afterthought,
that's not what's going on here. Instead, the fire-grilled chicken is the star of the show.
Whether you just want to get a chicken breast or you'd prefer to opt for a whole half of a chicken,
you have options here. While the chicken platters are a huge part of the menu,
you can also find bowls, sandwiches, soups, salads, and more.
There are also some breaded chicken menu items for those who prefer a little crunch
and aren't looking for the healthiest item on the menu. The roast pork is another popular menu item.
Wondering why you've never been to a Pollo Tropical before? Well,
that's because you're only going to see these restaurants in Florida, at least in the U.S.
It all started in Miami in 1988. At the time, most fast food places were all offering the same thing:
hamburgers and the occasional chicken sandwich. But the founders had a better
idea for a restaurant that was a bit out of the ordinary for the time:
They wanted the business to be centered around Caribbean-inspired food.
So, it makes sense why the locations are clustered in the Sunshine State.
There is a large Latin population there. The restaurants are scattered all over the state,
but you'll see them most heavily concentrated in the Miami area, where it all started.
"I'm from Miami, and my friends would let me know if the food wasn't great."
The Tampa, Jacksonville,
and Orlando areas also have a ton of Pollo Tropicals within a small radius.
You may be wondering why Pollo Tropical hasn't tried to expand outside of the
state of Florida. Well, funny thing: they did. In 2018, Restaurant Business Online asserted
that at the height of the company's success, circa 2016, the restaurant had a whopping 209
locations. However, just two years later, that number had dropped to 166 locations.
In 2014, the company decided that it wanted to try to move into Texas. It also expanded to other
states, like New York, Illinois, Georgia, and Tennessee. In fact, there were even locations
outside of the United States, in countries like Panama, some of which are still open.
But it didn't take long for Pollo Tropical to realize their expansion wasn't working.
Therefore, they were then forced to pull back and retreat into their home state of Florida.
"It makes sense because the past several times I've been there,
I was like 'Nobody else is here.' And apparently, it wasn't doing well."
While most of Pollo Tropical's push to expand took place within the United States,
they attempted to make it out of the country as well. As you can imagine, the Caribbean
and other Latin regions were targeted, since the food was based on this kind of cuisine.
They also had a location in New Delhi, Delhi, which seemed to get mixed reviews.
Some customers viewed this restaurant not as Latin-inspired cuisine but instead as,
quote, "American-style chicken." However,
one reviewer of the restaurant didn't seem to think it was a success, saying:
"It seemed to be nothing but a big bowl with rice, kidney beans, and black pulses ... or rather the
staple Indian diet of Rajma-Chawal or Kaali-Daal Chawal. The chicken pieces were far too few,
and their taste was all lost in the rice, etc. Not sure if the people running the show
are aware that such kind of food is best available in any street shop in India!"
In 2011, the Miami New Times reported that the Latino population in Miami
was happy when the first Pollo Tropical appeared in the city.
It featured a Latin-inspired menu that was more likeable than other options like Taco Bell.
However, it wasn't long before the quality of the food started to slip.
They claim that in the '90s, the food there was excellent. But as time went on,
the company appeared to start cutting costs, focusing on its bottom line more than quality.
And then came the time for the fast casual joint to try its luck outside of Miami. With that jump
came an attempt to Americanize the food to make it appeal to a broader range of customers, saying:
"Clients in New Jersey ... are not eager to stand in line for Pollo's black beans or fried
plantains, so items like macaroni and cheese and brown rice have been added to the menu."
It should come as no surprise that this plan wasn't a success,
as these locations have since been shut down. As the reviewer noted:
"If Pollo Tropical concentrated more on providing good food and less on cheapening
their current menu items, perhaps it wouldn't have to try so hard."
Love is love, and it's beautiful when two people
find each other. When those two people decide that marriage is in their future,
there's generally a lot of planning that goes into the wedding ceremony.
However, others don't want to fuss with all the celebrations and just want to get
on with married life. For those couples, an elopement just seems to make sense.
While most people might choose to elope at a courthouse or hold a small ceremony at home,
others want to go with something ... less conventional. And for couples like that,
getting married in a Pollo Tropical parking lot may just be the answer.
On Valentine's Days in the past, the restaurant has offered free weddings in its parking lots.
Pollo Tropical might be a big business now, but that doesn't mean it started off that way.
In fact, Larry Harris, one of the brothers who founded the restaurant,
was only 27 when the first Pollo Tropical opened.
However, opening a restaurant costs a lot of money,
and most 27-year-olds don't have a huge cache of money just sitting around
waiting for them to start a business. Therefore, the brothers had to get help.
Luckily, they seem to have had a pretty strong support system around them.
Between investments from family and friends, the brothers were able to collect $300,000
to start their business. That helped them get a solid start, but it wouldn't take the business to
its most successful point. However, the restaurant on the outskirts of Little Havana in Miami started
doing well right away, and soon, investors were trying to get in on the action as well.
Do you ever visit a restaurant and wonder what it's like for the fast food employees
who work there? Unfortunately, it seems like Pollo Tropical largely falls into a not so
great place to work. Visit the Indeed employee review page for Pollo Tropical,
and you'll find some unfortunate opinions from people who have worked there.
One employee wrote this about their experience there:
"Just started working and it's very stressful, it's understaffed and always hectic so I'm not
sure if I'm going to stay because it's too much for one person to be honest."
Another employee listed the cons of the job as:
"​​No benefits unless you are a manager, nobody really cares about you."
The pros, meanwhile, were simply "bathroom breaks." It's not a
good sign if a worker thinks bathroom breaks are the best part of their job.
Of course, every Pollo Tropical location undoubtedly has a different work environment,
but as a whole, it seems like a stressful place to work.
"I hate this job. I hate this g--damn job and I don't need it!"
It's not uncommon for restaurants to fail to pass a health inspection from time to time.
If health code violations at restaurants freak you out,
you may want to think twice before heading to your local Pollo Tropical.
In the summer of 2021, The Palm Beach Post reported that
a Pollo Tropical had been shut down due to, quote,
"high-priority violations," including employees not properly wearing gloves to prepare the food.
An Atlanta-area Pollo Tropical failed a health inspection in 2018 partially
because employees were not washing their hands on the job. And who could blame them,
considering the fact that there wasn't even any soap in the sink?
An Orlando Pollo Tropical was closed temporarily in 2017 because it had
left food out overnight and some of the dishes were kept at unsafe temperatures.
The worst report came in December 2020.
"The inspector noted over 100 rodent droppings by the cookline where uncovered food is held!"
Over 100 rat droppings were found in a Pollo Tropical in Weston, Florida,
including over 50 on the counter itself.
A few years ago, it was pretty much impossible for a vegetarian to find a decent veggie meal
at a fast food spot. And a vegan meal? You could forget about it completely.
But luckily for all the veggie lovers out there,
times have changed, and more and more restaurants are trying to provide their
vegan customers with options that are actually appetizing. And Pollo Tropical is one of them.
According to QSR Magazine, you can now get a vegan picadillo at the chain restaurant.
And it's not even an all-bean number. Instead, it's filled with Beyond Meat,
the plant-based meat alternative that tastes scarily like the real thing.
"It tastes like my mom's, you know why? Because it's her recipe."
"That's true."
It's available in both a bowl and a wrap form,
so vegans and vegetarians have more than one option to choose from.
Since Pollo Tropical already tends to sell food on the healthier end of the fast food spectrum,
we're not surprised that they jumped on the vegan wagon. We're glad that they did it in
such a novel and creative way. After all, we've all seen one too many boring veggie burgers.
Check out one of our newest videos right here! Plus,
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